Hi all. I'm about to graduate from college, and I'm an aspiring copywriter (degree is in journalism with a concentration in advertising). I've heard how tough it is to get a job as a creative. I've been told over and over again that portfolio school is the only way/ the best way to get into this business, but I can't afford it right now. Jobs with the title "junior copywriter" are scarce, and I'd prefer to not settle on a post-grad internship that either doesn't pay, or doesn't pay well, just to get my foot in the door at an agency. Could really use some advice from creatives in the business!

If you want to get in at a decent creative agency, the ONLY way in is a good portfolio. Even for an unpaid internship. You don't have to go to portfolio school, but you'd better be self-motivated, talented, and willing to work, because you're going to have to build your portfolio on your own. To get in as a Junior Copywriter, you're going to be competing against people who did go to portfolio school, and maybe have already done an internship.

This business can be BRUTAL to break into. But once you're in, it's usually not too, too hard to move around.

I actually made it in without any ad experience or an ad portfolio, but those days are essentially gone.

Thank you for being brutally honest, haha. I know it's hard, and I lose sleep over it all the time. I have a portfolio I made myself (I don't think it's awful), so I'm hoping that'll help, even though a lot of it is school projects.

In my opinion and that of my colleagues who went to portfolio schools, it's at worst a scam and at best a bad investment. So expensive. Even if you can afford to go without loans, it's terrible ROI considering the average junior salary. On top of that, I've yet to see a book that is amazing because it came from a portfolio school. Your ads will be polished and pretty, but if you don't have talent and work hard on your own ideation and writing abilities, the book will fall flat.

After I graduated my portfolio was made of 3-4 campaigns of bad ads drawn in sharpie. So that summer I watched hours of tutorials to build on my very minimal Photoshop/InDesign skills, then gave myself spec briefs and wrote headlines for them. I shot photos of my parents for a series of Keurig print ads. I saw a hilariously bad infomercial for a Hair Re-growth Laser Device, and had an idea for a funny social media campaign for it, so I comped that up. I'm from Philly and grew up on Wawa, so I wrote a series of print ads and banners that spoke to die-hard Wawa fans. Etc, until I had 5-6 total campaigns (a couple may have been one-off ads). Then I went through my school's job posting network and shot my portfolio around to agencies, and got lucky. The most important thing is smart, tight headlines and body copy, but unfortunately for a lot of recruiters, sloppy art direction will get your book ignored.

If you have absolutely zero design ability, I'd recommend pairing up with an art director in a similar situation and co-creating a portfolio.

Thanks for the reply and for offering to give feedback! Good thing I'm motivated, because I don't want to do anything else with my life, and this is what I know I'm good at. I've been networking as much as I can... met with some creative directors, my professor (former creative director) is helping mentor me, and I will be going on a conference soon to network even more. I have some good content in my portfolio, however it's stuff I did in class. But I think it showcases the way I think and my ability to create ideas/ write copy.

Don't be surprised when creative directors tell you to go to portfolio school. There is a reason why top agencies recruit from portfolio school grads all the time. Why do you think VCU grads are always scooped up first by agencies like Weiden Kennedy and Barton F. Graff? Portfolio school is just like paying for a masters degree. It can go a long way. Also, the connections you make is invaluable. The new CCO of DDB is from the creative circus. So the argument of portfolio school being a bad investment can be debated.

I agree! I've been battling with going for a few months, but I may try and get a communications-related job first and then go back to portfolio school. I ultimately don't want my Bachelor's degree to go to waste, because I feel like it'll be almost useless if I end up at portfolio school.

Also, self motivation is still important in portfolio school. You can go through years of a portfolio school and have a shitty book if you don't work hard.

If you think you can do it without a portfolio school, just dedicate all your time to create a portfolio. Put the money into learning basic design skills and pick some advertising award annuals from one show, communication arts and luerzers so you can see whats a good lay out for an ad. The benefit of portfolio school is you can just focus on copy instead of trying to juggle another skill.

Your bachelor degree won't go to waste. The shit you learn will supply you with knowledge and even inspiration.

Undertook work experience at an SEO firm during University. Completed my degree w/ a 2:1 in English language. After graduating I undertook freelance work for some income while searching for an internship. Then juggled two part time internships (one paid @ min wage at a smaller agency, one unpaid at a more established agency). I now have a full time paid position at one of them.

I probably could have gotten to where I am now earlier if I'd gained more experience before graduating, but hadn't really considered my career until towards the end of my second year at university.

In my area of the UK there aren't many businesses working in the field, so competition is fierce, especially at junior-graduate level positions. Strong experience and a portfolio is essential, and all of my colleagues earned their jobs in the same way I did.

Your story is very similar to mine, and I wasn't surprised that you too are in the UK. It seems that, over here at least, agencies make a very clear distinction between two 'types' of copywriters: 'copywriters' tend to work in direct and digital marketing, while 'creatives' make ATL advertisements. The latter of these careers seems, in my opinion, to be reserved exclusively for graduates of Lincoln University's Creative Advertising course.

Interestingly, my role is shifting more towards creative design work now; having a pretty solid understanding of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator etc from my college years has been useful.

Incidentally, I'd recommend to aspiring copywriters to work on another skill that'll help you stand out, ie html/web design, adobe cs etc. Will help you find more work if you're freelancing & will be invaluable to smaller agencies that can often have bits of that sort of work, but not enough to justify having to hire an extra head for it.

Internship and my success there let me get a job a year later with the portfolio I made during my internship plus a campaign or two I put together over my senior year of film school. You don't need portfolio school if you have an in and a good portfolio.

I will say I know plenty of senior creative people who started somewhere else in the agency - account, strategy, reception, etc.

I feel like that happens a lot too -- I figured if I can at least get a social media position at an agency, I can show interest/ get a chance to prove myself as a copywriter, since I already have somewhat of an in.

I didn't go to a portfolio school, but it definitely pays to know someone. Do you have any adjunct professors you're on good terms with? that's how I got my first internship, and a classmate got my foot in the door for my first paid position. So definitely work those contacts.

It is all about who you know these days... I've been networking with a couple creative directors at small agencies in the Cleveland area... one I've had more contact with and he's gone over my portfolio with me, could see I'm passionate, so I'm crossing my fingers I'll get an in there. One of my professors has 30 years experience in creative, so he has a million contacts, too. But he's the one really pushing portfolio school :\

I'm gonna assume you have a free local paper. If so, go pick up a copy.

See if any jump out at you as being especially bad. As in 'damn, if they only they'd do x, y & z, this'd actually get them lots of business' levels of incompetance.

Well, go ahead and create a replacement advert for it. If you've got a graphic design friend who'd also want some proven work, then see if you can team up to make something especially great.

The fun bit is to email these out with a quick message like, 'hey, I saw your ad in the paper. I had an idea for how to make it draw in more customers, so I went ahead and made it. You're welcome to use the idea as you wish, although I'd appreciate knowing how it performs'. If you don't hear anything back, send a short follow up a few weeks later asking whether they decided to use it or not.

If you have published adverts that were shown to work, I'd find that way more convincing than some certificate.

P.S yes, I know it's doing work for free. But really, looking back I wish I'd just gone ahead and done a few of the free/cheap things in order to get the paying gigs coming in faster.

To make it even more effective, you can make yourself seem like a pro instead of some freshfaced grad in a matter of hours. Grab yourself a URL, maybe even frieswithmayo.com ($10), throw up a basic site on Strikingly/Squarespace ($20), and have a hello@frieswithmayo.com style email address hosted by google ($3).

Emailing from your stevemcgregor89@gmail.com style address gives off an amateur vibe, and if any of them want to hire you then suddenly you have a web presence to give a sense of legitimacy.

Hey! Honestly I've been swamped with school, work, getting ready to graduate, and applying for jobs (a full-time job in itself), so I haven't really had the time to follow anyone's advice yet. I have, however, been making phone calls and connecting with as many people in the industry as I can, and it's been extremely helpful! If I get around to it, I'll be sure to let ya know.

As stated, no agencies want to hire junior copywriters straight out of college, even with a decent portfolio. But, they do hire account managers (digital experience managers, associate brand managers, whatever) all the time, as agencies generally have high employee turnover. Getting hired as an account manager, altough not ideal for your short-term career goals, will be the quickest way to get into the industry—once you're in, you meet people (even at other agencies, etc.) and you will open up opportunities for career mobility.

Try things like:

volunteer to do copywriting when the agency is over capacity

volunteer to write the agency blog or social media calendar

volunteer at non-profits and professional groups, but ask for a copywriting postion (if you do it for free, you're likely to get it)

Show some chops at those things and you'll increase your odds of landing your dream copywriting job, which (I'm chuckling as I type this) may not be all that you thought.

I'll probably get downvoted for this, but just wanted to show you there's more than one way to get where you want to go.

Oh, and to answer your original question—I got my job as a copywriter by working in accounts/strategy for several years, quitting, and opening up my own freelance business.

edit: clarity
edit #2: My experience is specific to a small market in the US

What you first said was my thought, too. I'm currently taking a class on how to be an account manager to extend my background, but I'm sure I can get a position like that, or even a social media position, at the agency so I can show I'm eager to learn how to copywrite

I have a little bit of everything in my portfolio because I have a strong journalism/communications background. I have some ads, but it's only stuff I've done in school or in a school ad club. A CD was impressed with my portfolio (it's on Wordpress), but I'm not sure what a "good" one looks like

I got my first copywriting job due to pure luck. I was working in various freelance writing jobs on and off (not copywriting) when a friend contacted me. She worked as a designer at a small agency, and they were in desperate need of a writer TOMORROW. I thought it sounded interesting, so I said yes. We both knew I didn't really have the qualifications, but she recommended me to her CD anyway.

I guess her recommendation + their desperation + I just killed it in the interview were good enough. Even though I had no formal copywriting experience at the time, I had done a lot of personal creative projects and promoted them rather successfully. I suppose that helped a lot. Plus it was a PT position, so they probably figured if I sucked it wouldn't be a big deal to just drop me.

After a few months, a recruiter from a "real" agency pinged me off Monster.com. It was a FT job with better pay, closer to home... so I took it. From there on out it was a pretty normal career path.

My recommendations:

Go on Craigslist or any similar site and search for low level freelance, and just take pretty much any job you can.

Build a portfolio and make it look as professional as possible. Have an online and print version.

Once you have some of the above taken care of, reach out to SMALLER agencies. I'm talking 5 to 25 person shops in the suburbs etc. They will be more willing to work with less polished talent, as long as you can provide value.

Did an apprenticeship as a marketing communication salesman (this is in germany).
Friend recommended me for an internship in a bigger agency. Busted my ass and got the trainee position. A year later + lots of sweat and I became junior.

I would recommend educating yourself in this area while doing some freelancer work. After while, you can apply to agency to get to better and bigger projects.
You said that you have some portfolio? If you PM it to me, I might give you some more insight.